Broken Home
by Is-there-somewhere-x
Summary: What if Alicia hadn't always been so happy and carefree? This is my take on Alicia's past - seeing as most characters have a tragic past it only seems fit to give Alicia one too (that sounds so cruel I apologise) Rated T for some sensitive themes, hints at abuse etc. Please let me know what you think of this :) xx
1. Chapter 1

"3 patients successfully discharged!" Alicia said cheerfully, a huge grin plastered on her face.

Lily just rolled her eyes. When she was a junior doctor, she worked ten times harder than Alicia, and even then could never quite be as happy as her colleague was now. She wondered if maybe the happy go lucky, ditzy personality was just an act. Probably not, it was just wishful thinking on Lily's part.

She still wondered why everyone seemed to like Alicia more than herself? She'd had to work her backside off to earn the respect of her colleagues, especially her seniors, but Mrs Beauchamp had taken an immediate shine to the bubbly new doctor. In Lily's eyes, it wasn't fair at all. But she wasn't going to let Alicia know any of this, at least not for the time being.

So instead, she just replied, "Are you always this bright and cheerful?" Knowing the answer would probably be yes.

But to her surprise it looked like Alicia had just seen a ghost, for she turned a deathly shade of white before running towards the staff room. Lily wondered how on earth she could have caused offense by simply asking a question. Maybe Lily didn't quite know Alicia well enough yet to be able to judge that for herself.

* * *

 ** _~Flashback~_**

"You stupid girl Alicia, why can't you ever do anything right?" Mum yelled at me.

All I'd done was drop my dinner plate whilst washing up for the fifth night in a row. There was meant to be a rota for these kinds of things but the rest of the family rarely followed it, so I'd be left with the heavy workload while they were all off doing whatever it was that pleased them. I didn't even care about that any more, I'd had enough of hearing about their lives years ago.

"Why can't you ever get off my back?" Before I could stop myself, the angry words poured out.

 _Did I just say that out loud? She's going to kill me now, LITERALLY._

"What did you just say to me?" she bellowed,

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, M-mum,"

My unfortunate stutter had made a reappearance; it always happened when I was scared.

"How dare you speak to me like that? I've worked hard to keep you happy but it's never enough is it? You're absolutely pathetic!" she spat out the last word as though it was a piece of dirt, similar to what she thought of me, nothing more than an inconvenience to her.

Then before I could reach out to defend myself, she slapped me hard round the face. I could feel my lip begin to bleed. It wasn't the first time she had done this and it certainly wouldn't be the last. I always had to get out before she could make me feel any worse.

I hurtled up the stairs, before slamming the door to the room I used to share with my two sisters, Amy and Scarlett.

If they were here now, I know they'd have my back. They hated our parents just as much as I did, but they were never targeted as much as I was. In fact, they got even worse with me after Amy moved out last month. Scarlett had moved out the year before, and it tore us both to pieces. We were all ever so close, sharing clothes, makeup, and everything else inbetween, which made it even worse when Amy left, as we both knew I'd be left alone with Mum and Dad. Now I was just their punchbag to take out all their frustrations on.

Well I wasn't really alone, but it certainly felt like that when Hayley was around. She was my parents' 'favourite' and the worst thing was they didn't even try to deny it. Still to this day, I have no idea why they favoured her so much, I mean, her life had been a disaster so far - your typical wild teenager, going to parties and coming home drunk every night even though she was still underage.

But what couldn't they love about Scarlett and Amy? Amy had gone off to nursing school, and Scarlett was aiming to open her own business. Not that we had any idea if either of their career pathways had worked out, as we hadn't heard from either of them since the day they left. I don't blame them really, after all that had happened who in their right minds would want to come back here?

And then there was me. I would be a delight for any normal parents, with straight As in all my subjects, but it seemed even that wasn't good enough for them.I decided last month, around the same time Amy left, that I was going to become a doctor. Maybe then I could find out where Amy was working, and start my foundation year at the same hospital. Besides that, I wanted to be able to help people who were in need. I wanted to be able to stop terrible things happening to people. I wanted to stop people from having lives like mine.

Now I was more determined than ever to get away from this miserable life and start a new one where no one would ever know about where I came from, or anything at all about my past for that matter. I would just be that happy, carefree girl who everyone wanted to be like.


	2. Chapter 2

**I've just had a sudden burst of inspiration for this story after having not updated it for months! So sorry to anyone who read this and wanted more, but here it is now. Over half term I'm going to try and update as many of my stories as possible so hopefully more will be added to this very soon :) xx**

 _~Flashback continues~_

I woke up the next morning, suddenly becoming aware of the pain in my head and across my face. That's when I remembered the events of last night. I wished I could forget all about it but I doubted that would happen for some time. I was done, absolutely done with being treated like this.

I eased myself out from under the covers and stood in front of the mirror. I looked a state - my eyes were red and puffy from sobbing into my pillow, my nose and lips were swollen from the actions of my so called 'mother' and my hair was simply a mess.

I sighed heavily, how could any mother do this to her daughter? I knew I had to get away from this, and the sooner the better. I picked up my tatty rucksack, it was almost 3 years old now - Scarlett had got it for me for my 13th birthday and even though it was worn through I still loved it dearly. It was a reminder of a better time, when I didn't have to worry as much about what I did, or what I said, because my older sisters were taking the brunt of it all. I knew I was going to treasure it for as long as I could. Well, truth be told I hadn't been allowed anything new for ages, so I didn't have the luxury of being able to throw it out for a newer version.

I looked around my room, making a mental list of what I'd need. I knew I wouldn't be coming back any time soon so I'd have to pack enough to last me a while. I opened my wardrobe and stuffed in as many clothes in as possible, being careful to pick warm and protective items, as it was nearing the end of summer I knew the nights would soon turn very cold and I couldn't predict the next time I'd have a roof over my head. I packed some other essentials and then I was finished. I didn't have very many possessions to my name anyway so my room was practically empty by the time I was done.

I'd have to find a good time to sneak out, but that would be relatively easy anyway as mum would no doubt be off with her new boyfriend Mike and Hayley would almost certainly be at a party or too drunk to remember her own name. She was wasting her life away, but that wasn't my problem, I couldn't care less what happened to her. And I wasn't even going to get started on my hatred for Mike..

I got a sudden burst of inspiration having glanced out of the window, realising I could quite easily jump out on to the roof area outside my bedroom and then get down from there. It wasn't very high up and heights didn't bother me at all, so I'd be fine.

Well, there's no time like the present, I told myself, and as I said earlier, the sooner the better. I was going to do this now, when no one was around to stop me.

I jumped onto the windowsill and let my legs dangle over the edge. I could almost touch the flat surface of the roof from here, so I lowered my body off the ledge and touched the floor cautiously.

As I straightened up I noticed how close to the edge I was, it would probably be best if I moved back a little. It was rather windy out here. I was going to have to time my jump pretty well or I'd end up seriously hurting myself. I couldn't even think about that as a possibility, Mum would go absolutely mental and then it wouldn't take her that long to guess what I'd been doing up there in the first place.

Okay, I needed to compose myself before making the jump. The jump that would hopefully change my life.

I counted down from 10 and then I did it.

* * *

The next thing I could remember was the intense sunlight shining in my eyes.

I could barely see before I became aware of a sharp pain in my head and down my neck. My legs were burning too and I knew I definitely wouldn't be moving for a while. I had absolutely no idea what had happened and how I'd ended up lying on my back like this, unable to think straight let alone move. I could feel my eyelids fluttering, sleep trying its hardest to pull me back in. It's grip was strong but I wasn't going to let it win.

For some reason I had a vague memory of Amy teaching me what to do in an emergency, and I knew going back to sleep probably wasn't part of it. I don't know why that seemed to be the only thing I seemed to be able to remember, but I was certainly glad it was coming back to me at this precise moment.

I reached my arm out, trying desperately to ignore the pain, and it landed on my rucksack. I wasn't sure why I had it with me but I knew my phone would be in there so I reached inside and after a few unsuccessful attempts at grabbing it, I eventually managed to fish it out, stabbing in 999 on the emergency call feature.

"Hello, which service do you require?" a voice called down the line.

"U-uh," I tried to speak but my throat felt crackly and my lips were very dry. Some time later the words did come out and I was informed that an ambulance would be on its way shortly.

Now I'd just have to wait...


End file.
